nonprofit staff

Building and keeping a highly effective nonprofit staff is really tricky. The recently released 2015 Nonprofit Employment Practices Survey from NonprofitHR found that 50% of nonprofits surveyed plan to add new positions in 2015, compared to 36% of private companies. But, staff recruitment and retention are still significant hurdles for nonprofit leaders, with 52% of nonprofits lacking a recruitment strategy and 27% reporting their greatest retention challenge is low wages.

So how can nonprofits grow their staffs when they are hampered by significant recruitment and retention challenges?

Here’s how I coach my clients to build a highly effective nonprofit team:

Recruit Outside Your Comfort ZoneThe 2015 Nonprofit Employment Practices Survey found that the top recruitment strategy for nonprofit leaders is to “use a network of friends and colleagues.” But that’s not a strategy. As with everything, nonprofit leaders must embrace the idea of a “networked nonprofit,” growing their connections to people and organizations outside their comfort zone. To find your next staff rockstar, be strategic about getting your job in front of new audiences and networks. Come up with a list of 50-100 people who might be connected to someone who fits the job’s qualifications. Think of strategic allies, leaders in the field, funders, volunteers. Send the job posting and ask them to direct great candidates to you. And in addition to posting the position on regular job sites, send it out through all of your social media channels and ask your board, partners, allies, funders, etc. to do the same. Cast your net far and wide in order to recruit the best and brightest.

Pay EnoughAs I said, one of the biggest challenges to retaining staff is low salaries. But the fact is that staff turnover is an enormous cost to an organization (recruitment, lost time, retraining) so convince your board that you should pay competitive salaries in order to save the organization money in the long run. Do salary research (at salary.com, or from nonprofit salary surveys in your region) and determine what a competitive wage for your position really is. Then convince your board to increase the budget to accomodate it. Move from the scarcity mindset to the abundance mindset, or if you just don’t have the funding right now, raise capacity capital to elevate your fundraising function so that you can recruit and retain top talent.

Hire The Right PersonNonprofit leaders must go against the default, which is to hire someone with less experience than the position requires (since it’s cheaper). Instead hire someone who can take the position to the next level. Hire the person who has the demonstrated experience you need and is hungry to build that function in your nonprofit. But keep in mind that finding that person takes time. Many nonprofit leaders make quick hiring decisions because they are desperate to fill a position and end up suffering a poor fit later. Instead, create a detailed due diligence process which includes multiple rounds of interviews (quick screening phone calls, longer one-on-one interviews, interviews with their future staff colleagues, interviews with key board members), a written “homework assignment” to gauge their skills, and detailed reference checks. Be thoughtful and methodical in your process and spend the time it takes.

Manage EffectivelyOnce you have a great person in place, make sure you lead them effectively by using goals and strategy, not micromanagement. The best way to do this is to schedule a 30-60 minute, weekly, one-on-one meeting with each of your direct reports that focuses on your goals for their position. This allows you to give your staff ample leeway to shine, while monitoring their progress along the way. You will also have fewer interruptions during the rest of the week because your staff feels they get the attention and feedback they need in a regular, dedicated meeting. This creates an empowered staff, a confident leader, and a productive organization.

Like anything else, doing something well takes strategy and the will to effectively implement it. You can recruit and retain a phenomenal nonprofit staff, but you must be thoughtful about it.

If you want to learn more about the coaching I provide nonprofit leaders — on staffing, board development, fundraising, strategy and more — check out my Coaching page.

There comes a time at every nonprofit when a difficult conversation must happen. A conversation, which if avoided, could really cripple the organization and its work. It could be saying “No” to a donor who wants to take the organization away from its mission, or telling a board member they need to start performing, or being honest with a staff member who is not a good fit for their position.

Because nonprofits are so resource-constrained it is critical that they put every resource to its highest and best use. And in order to do that, sometimes you must lead a difficult conversation.

The Social Velocity On Demand webinar “Leading Difficult Conversations with Funders, Board Members and Employees” will give you the tools to approach those conversations with confidence and skill so that you can do what’s best for your nonprofit.

Some of the scenarios covered include when:

A board member is not raising money

A donor wants to launch a program that doesn’t fit your strategy or mission

A board member should be asked to resign

A staff member is not performing effectively

This webinar will give you:

Concrete language to use with funders, board members, staff

A strategy to best approach a challenging negotiation

Case studies and examples of difficult situations

A process for thinking through future scenarios and focusing on what’s best for your nonprofit

A forum for putting your toughest situations to the test

The opportunity to hear what challenges other nonprofit leaders face

Leading Difficult Conversations with Funders, Board Members and Employees

The registration fee will get you:

A link to a recording of the webinar, which you can watch as many times as you like

The PowerPoint slides from the webinar

The ability to ask additional follow-up questions after the webinar

So if you struggle with telling donors, board members and staff what they need to hear, try our on demand webinar.

And if you want to learn how to create an overall financing plan for your nonprofit, join us for that webinar on April 24th. Click here to register